Snowshoe sandal



July 13, 1943- G. M. RINTAMAKI Erm. 2,323,935

sNowsHoE sANDAL Filed Aug." 30, 1941 Patented July 13, 1943 SNOWSHOE` SANDAL George IVI. Rintamaki, Newberry, and Leslie li. Powis, Lansing, Mich.

Application August 30, 1941, Serial No. 409,080

2 Claims.

Our invention relates to improvements in snowshoe sandals or harnesses whereby the foot of the wearer is flexibly but securely attached to the snowshoe, and the primary object of our invention is to provide a simple and more eicient arrangement of this type, which is characterized by less lost motion between the foot and the snowshoe and which reduces the wear upon the parts involved.

Other important objects and advantages of our invention will be apparent from a reading of the following description taken in connection with the appended drawing, wherein for purposes of illustration we have shown a preferred embodiment of our invention.

In the drawing- Figure 1 is a fragmentary top plan View showing a snowshoe equipped in accordance with the present invention.

Figure 2 is an enlarged transverse vertical sectional view taken through Figure 1 alongthe line 2-2.

Figure 3 is an enlarged top plan View of the sandal or harness partly broken away to show the reinforced and non-stretchable rubber portions and the live stretchable rubber portions.

Figure 4 is a top plan View of the sole plate partly broken away to show the fabric reinforcement thereof.

Referring in detail to the drawing, the numeral 5 generally designates a substantially conventional form of snowshoe involving the usual cross piece the toe-string l, and the thongs 8 which tie the sandal or harness in place on the snowshoe.

In accordance with the present invention the sandal or harness is composed of a sole plate 9 which is transversely elongated with respect to the snowshoe and has a substantially straight rear edge I0, a slightly rearwardly curved front edge ll and triangular ends I2 and I3. The sole piece is made of rubber and fabric for strength, wearing qualities, and durability and' to avoid undesired stretch therein.

The top piece of the sandal which is generally designated I@ has a fore-part I5 matching in shape and extent the sole plate 9, and the portion l5 and the sole plate 9 4are superposed in exact registry and vulcanized together at their ends. The portion i5 of the member lli being longer than the sole plate, the result is an upward bowing of the intermediate portion of the part I5 as illustrated in Figure 2 of the drawing to provide a toe receptacle.

Eyelet rivets l are placed through the vulcanized ends of the assembly on a forward and inward bias as indicated, these rivets being located sufciently forwardly to avoid lifting of the tail of the snowshoe and to correct unnatural toe-down motion present because of the construction of many other snowshoe sandals.

From the points indicated by the numerals I'I the fabric reinforcement I8 of the top piece I4 stops and the horseshoe-shaped heel piece I9 whose legs project from the points II is formed of pure stretchable rubber which conforms to the shape and motion of the wearers foot and ankle.

The usual thongs 8 are placed through the eyelets I6 in the usual manner to connect the sandal or harness to the snowshoe. It will be observed that the heel piece I9 acts as automatically adjusting heel straps which do not slip up and down to cause lost motion and wear on the snowshoe.

though we have shown and described herein a preferred embodiment of our invention, it is to be definitely understood that we do not wish to limit the application of the invention thereto except as may be required by the scope of the subjoined claims.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

l. A snowshoe harness comprising a sole plate to rest on the snowshoe, an upwardly bowed top plate overlying said sole plate with its ends registered with the ends of the sole plate, means securing said ends together, thong accommodating eyelets traversing said registered ends of the sole plate and top plate and arranged to pass thongs for attaching the harness on the snowshoe, said sole plate and said top plate being formed of relatively non-stretchable material, and a non-adjustable U-shaped heel strap having its legs secured to extend rearwardly from transversely spaced points along the rear edge of said top plate, said heel strap being of ilexible and stretchable material.

2. A snowshoe harness comprising a sole plate to rest on the snowshoe, a top plate substantially coextensive with and overlying said sole plate, means securing together the registered ends of the sole plate and said top plate, thong accommodating eyelets in said registered ends and arranged to accommodate the usual thongs for attaching the harness on the snowshoe, said eyelets being located at the forward part of the harness, and a U-shaped heel strap having its legs secured to extend rearwardly from transversely spaced points along the rear edge of said top plate, said sole plate and said top plate relatively non-stretchable and formed of fabric reinforced rubber, and said heel strap being formed of stretchable live rubber.

GEORGE M. RINTAMAKI. LESLIE I-I. POWIS. 

